This volume examines how the work of principals is being reshaped by transformational reform measures, as well as how the principals themselves are shaping initiatives. The authors explore the challenges and possiblities for principals in restructuring schools, and analyze nine case studies which highlight the changing role of the principal.

PART ONE: SETTING THE STAGE
Reconstructing the Principalship - Joseph Murphy and Lynn G Beck
Challenges and Possibilities
Transformational Change and the Evolving Role of the Principal - Joseph Murphy
Early Empirical Evidence
PART TWO: CASE STUDIES
The Principal as Mini-Superintendent Under Chicago School Reform - R Bruce McPherson and Robert L Crowson
Transformational Leadership and Teachers¿ Commitment to Change - Kenneth Leithwood, Doris Jantzi and Alicia Fernandez
School Leadership and Teacher Quality of Work Life in Restructuring Schools - Sheila Rosenblum, Karen Seashore Louis and Richard A Rossmiller
Ninety Degrees from Everywhere - Nona A Prestine
New Understandings of the Principal¿s Role in a Restructuring Essential School
From Attila the Hun to Mary Had a Little Lamb - Philip Hallinger and Charles Hausman
Principal Role Ambiguity in Restructured Schools
Cultivating a Caring School Community - Lynn G Beck
One Principal¿s Story
Voices of Principals from Democratically Transformed Schools - Carl D Glickman, Lewis R Allen and Barbara F Lunsford
Changes in School Governance and Principals¿ Roles - Kent D Peterson and Valli D Warren
Changing Jurisdictions, New Power Dynamics, and Conflict in Restructured Schools
Ten Propositions for Facilitative Leadership - David T Conley and Paul Goldman
PART THREE: CONCLUSION
The Evolving Role of the Principal - Karen Seashore Louis and Joseph Murphy
Some Concluding Thoughts

Joseph F. Murphy is the Frank W. Mayborn Chair and associate dean at Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University. He has also been a faculty member at the University of Illinois and The Ohio State University, where he was the William Ray Flesher Professor of Education.

In the public schools, he has served as an administrator at the school, district, and state levels, including an appointment as the executive assistant to the chief deputy superintendent of public instruction in California. His most recent appointment was as the founding president of the Ohio Principals Leadership Academy. At the university level, he has served as department chair and associate dean.

He is past vice president of the American Educational Research Association and was the founding chair of the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC). He is co-editor of the AERA Handbook on Educational Administration (1999) and editor of the National Society for the Study of Education (NSSE) yearbook, The Educational Leadership Challenge (2002).

His work is in the area of school improvement, with special emphasis on leadership and policy. He has authored or co-authored 18 books in this area and edited another 12. His most recent authored volumes include Understanding and Assessing the Charter School Movement (2002), Leadership for Literacy: Research-Based Practice, PreK-3 (2003), Connecting Teacher Leadership and School Improvement (2005), Preparing School Leaders: Defining a Research and Action Agenda (2006), and Turning Around Failing Schools: Lessons From the Organizational Sciences.